House of Commons (United Kingdom)

House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
56th UK Parliament
Type
Type	Lower House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Leadership
Speaker	John Bercow MP Since 22 June 2009
Leader of the Commons	David Lidington MP, Conservative Since 14 July 2016
Shadow Leader of the Commons	Valerie Vaz MP, Labour Since 6 October 2016
Minor Parties Shadow Leaders	Pete Wishart MP, Scottish National Tom Brake MP, Liberal Democrat Nigel Dodds MP, Democratic Unionist
Structure
Seats	650
Political groups	HM Government      Conservative Party (330) HM Most Loyal Opposition      Labour Party (229) Other opposition parties      Scottish National Party (54)      Liberal Democrats (9)      Democratic Unionist Party (8)      Sinn Féin (4, in abstention)      Plaid Cymru (3)      SDLP (3)      Ulster Unionist Party (2)      UK Independence Party (1)      Green Party (1)      Independent (4)      Vacant (1) Speaker      Speaker (1)
Length of term	up to 5 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	7 May 2015
Next election	On or before 7 May 2020
Redistricting	Boundary Commissions
Meeting place
House of Commons chamber Palace of Westminster City of Westminster London United Kingdom
Website
parliament.uk

The House of Commons of the United Kingdom is the lower house of the country's parliament. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster. Officially, the full name of the house is: The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

The House is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected to represent constituencies by first-past-the-post and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.

A House of Commons of England evolved in the 13th and 14th centuries, became the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland in 1707, and assumed its current title after the political union with Ireland at the start of the 19th century. The "United Kingdom" referred to was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1800, and became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922.

Under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords' power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The Government is primarily responsible to the House of Commons and the prime minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support of a majority of its members.